Sunday, 28 July 2013

It’s been a
ridiculously long time since I last blogged. Work has kept me away from the
kitchen with exception of old faves or frozen portions of previous cooking
sessions, reheated. When you work away
all week, most of the weekend is
dedicated to turning around (washing, iron, pack) to come back and trying
desperately to grab some time to relax before another busy week begins.

At last, this
weekend allowed me time to think about what I wanted, adapt an idea and that
all important spare time, to sit down and blog.

Whilst the
weather was still warm I wanted something tasty, fresh, with a little heat and
a nod towards North Africa. Although I’m not a
big fan of food from that region this ticks all the boxes. Light, yet full of
flavour, paprika adds depth and the tang from the lemon is marvellous. The
olives give a bite of saltiness whilst all the time there’s a heady combination
of tomatoes and cinnamon running through it. Something light like Rice ( in
this case laced with cardamom) or couscous goes perfectly

Add the dry
spices, salt, pepper and 2 tbsps of oil to a large dish add, the chicken
pieces, coat the chicken well, cover and leave for an hour, or overnight if
possible

Heat the oven to
160 degrees. In a flameproof casserole dish add 2 tbsp of olive oil, place on
the heat and fry the chicken, in batches, until golden then remove to a plate

Add the onions to
the pan, and fry until soft, stir though the garlic and ginger, fry for one
minute more. Pour the stock into the dish the chicken marinated in and stir
gently to collect all of the marinade. Pour this into the casserole dish along
with the lemon juice and tomatoes.

Add the chicken
to the pan along with the cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil, cover and place in
the oven for around 2-3 hours. Stir around every 20 mins or so. With about an
hour to go and the chopped lemons and Olives, season to taste.

When you’re
ready, remove from the oven, taste season if required. If it’s not spicy enough
add some chopped chilli, or if its too much the other way serve with plain
yoghurt

This goes, with
rice, flatbread, bread, couscous, anything really and of course bushels of
coriander

A Life Most Tasty

If you're reading this, the chances are you are alive, so well done you on your magnificent existence!

I would also like to wager, that a large part of the reason you’re here, is the fact that almost every single day of your life so far, you partake in an activity that is vital to your well being.

Eating is one of the most important of your daily functions, it not only gives you the energy to get through the day, its the source of all kinds of nutrients and it provides the building blocks of life.

Essentially we all have to eat to live and we do this two, maybe three times a day.

So, my theory is, why not make this most vital of daily processes an enjoyable one!

You may think cooking is not for you or that you don’t really have the skills to create your own dishes or play with flavours to dazzle the taste buds

Well actually you’d be surprised; most of us at some point in our lives have developed a dish to our liking

Think of a bacon sandwich, do you have butter on your bread, add brown or red sauce? On your chips do you put vinegar, ketchup or mayo? Each time you do something like this you’re taking the food presented to you and adapting it to your own tastes. This is essentially what cooking should be; taking ingredients and then adding what you like, because you’re the one eating it.

Despite what your parents told you it’s good to play with your food. My advice is to have a go at a new recipe and once you think you’ve got the hang of it, change it. Add more spice, add less garlic, increase the sauce or introduce a completely new ingredient.

I could prattle on endlessly about the various health benefits of making your own food and not eating takeaways or microwave meals but I won’t. There are plenty of other, far more well qualified people already doing that